Herrera irks LGBT community with poor word ‘preference’

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The last thing a mayoral candidate in this town wants to do is to annoy its gay constituents, but that’s precisely what Dennis Herrera did with a poorly chosen word on his campaign website.

The offense? His site uses the term “sexual preference” rather than “sexual orientation,” according to an article in the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco’s local weekly that serves The City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities.

The term “sexual preference” is not a preferred term because it implies that people choose to be gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, while “sexual orientation” implies an innate sexual attraction.

According to BAR reporter Matthew S. Bajko, the term initially showed up in two sections of Herrera’s campaign site, where he stated his belief that “San Francisco should remain an enjoyable and safe place to live and work for people of (sic) regardless of their race, sexual preference, national origin or income.”

One of the “preferences” was changed as soon as Bajko alerted the campaign to it, but as of noon on Tuesday, the second “preference” remains in the “On the Issues” page.

Bajko reports that when campaign staffers were initially notified of the gaffe, they described the poor wording as “an oversight.”